Sham, Vikar review status of various on-going projects in Banihal area

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5 Dariya News (Anubhav Suri)

Jammu (IANS) , 19 Dec 2013

Minister for PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control, Sham Lal Sharma today reviewed the pace of progress of on-going PHE schemes in Banihal area at a meeting of officers held here.Minister of State for Technical Education, Power and Information, Vikar Rasool was also present in the meeting.The PHE Minister expressed satisfaction over the progress of on-going schemes and directed the concerned engineers to further speed up the efforts to complete these in a time bound manner. He directed for a comprehensive plan for the uncovered areas and new habitations which have come up after the construction of railway infrastructure in the area. He also directed for upgradation of existing infrastructure to enhance the efficiency of schemes.Mr. Vikar Rasool identified areas of importance and sought immediate attention of the PHE Minister to improve the overall drinking water scenario in the area. He said in view of construction of railway project in the areas, the water resources have been affected and need some remedial measures to overcome the drinking water needs. He requested for release of funds to fast-track existing schemes in the area.Commissioner/Secretary PHE, Dr. Pawan Kotwal briefed the meeting about the status of various on-going schemes in Banihal area. He said as many as 21 schemes with an estimated cost of Rs. 74.33 crore are under execution in the area. These are at different stages of completion, and an amount of Rs. 63.71 crore has been spent on these schemes till date. On completion, over 15000 people of 35 habitations will be benefited, said Dr. Kotwal.Chief Engineer PHE, Mr. K.K. Gupta, Chief Engineer, Irrigation & Flood Control, Mr. Sushil Aima, SE Hydraulic Udhampur, SE Mechanical and concerned engineers of the area were also present in the meeting.